


beautiful stranger, there you are

by independentalto



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Corn Mazes, F/F, F/M, Fake Dating, Non SHIELD AU, apple orchard, daisy being a disaster bi, kisses to maintain cover, piper being a disaster lesbian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27296524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/independentalto/pseuds/independentalto
Summary: When Daisy gets challenged to bring a date to the annual apple orchard reunion, time is short and the options are shorter.A Craiglist ad for a fake date it is.Or, Daisy and Piper meet because of a Craiglist ad. Non-SHIELD AU.
Relationships: Agent Piper/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 19
Kudos: 32





	beautiful stranger, there you are

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gort](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gort/gifts).



> I had so much fun writing Pipsy and this lil universe, so I hope you like it! :) 
> 
> Special thanks to Kat for moral support and laughing at every line I presented her -- I couldn't have done it without her, seriously.

**Conversation: BU Bitches (BC Sucks)**

**_You, Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse), Mushrooms (Lance Hunter), Turtleman (Alphonso Mackenzie), Yo-Yo (Elena Rodriguez), Monkeys (Leo Fitz) and Jemothy (Jemma Simmons) are in this conversation._ **

**Jemothy:** Has everyone bought their passes for the orchard next week?

 **Turtleman:** bought mine last month

 **Yo-Yo:** time is nothing when you’re waiting to get your revenge

 **Mushrooms:** for the last time, we promise we didn’t mean to hit you with the squash!

 **Mushrooms:** how were we supposed to know where you two were, anyways????

 **Yo-Yo:** I think the bigger question is how you two got the squash into the maze in the first place

 **Turtleman:** which you still haven’t answered, by the way. that was a hell of a lot of squash that came flying

 **Mockingbird:** a woman and her boyfriend never kiss and tell 

**You:** oh, so we’re acknowledging he’s your boyfriend, then? last time I saw him, you denied that faster than elena chucked a yo-yo at professor talbot freshman year

 **Mushrooms:** oh please, like you’re one to talk :P

 **Mushrooms:** which one of us has shown up to this thing single year after year?

 **Mockingbird:** without fail?

 **Mockingbird:** daisy

 **You:** ….

 **You:** now you’re just ganging up on me

 **Monkeys:** I mean, they’re not wrong…

 **Monkeys:** you do show up single every year

 **Jemothy:** Honestly, it’s getting kind of hard to believe that you’ve dated someone since we graduated. Since sophomore year, really. 

**You:** look I promise I’m not making up any dates

 **You:** they just never make it around to this time of year

 **Monkeys:** likely story

 **Monkeys:** just tell us you’re afraid of commitment and go

 **You:** I – 

**You:** I am NOT afraid of commitment and I can prove it

 **You:** I wasn’t gonna tell you guys, but I’m bringing someone this year

**Yo-Yo: 👁 🗢 👁**

**Jemothy:**?????

 **Jemothy:** You didn’t tell me about this! 

**Mockingbird:** ah, the eternally single daisy has finally been cuffed

 **Mushrooms:** at long last

 **Turtleman:** you sure you’re not just paying them?

 **Monkeys:** oh she’s paying them for sure

 **You:** excuseme.gif

 **You:** first of all, rude

 **You:** second of all, no, I’m not paying her to be my date for the day. we’ve been dating for a while and she’s really excited to meet you guys. honestly I’m offended y’all would assume I would pay someone to be my date for the day

 **Mushrooms:** oh, this is going to be good

 **Mockingbird:** ….

 **Jemothy:** I’ll believe it when I see her. And I’ll see you all next week.

* * *

This was possibly the worst idea she’d ever had. And Daisy’d had a _lot_ of bad ideas – at 26, she could safely say she’d accomplished the majority of her college-student-self’s bucket list and then some. But this, however...this was a whole new level of bad ideas. 

“Where am I supposed to even _find_ a date for next week?” she lamented to Kora, who sat on the couch opposite her, beer in hand an unimpressed expression on her face. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to find someone by next week. There’s no _way_.” 

Kora just shook her head and tossed back a healthy glug of beer. “Told you you should’ve stayed with that last guy,” she told Daisy. “Electrical engineer boy. Liked Pokemon. Lincoln,” she exclaimed, pointing dramatically at her sister. “Lincoln. You should’ve stayed with Lincoln.” It was Daisy’s turn to shake her head and chug her beer – Lincoln had been a good man, he really had, but at the end of the day, he’d been ready to walk down the aisle and have kids – Daisy, meanwhile, had still been on the fence about adopting a dog. 

(Maybe Fitz had been right about her being afraid of commitment – but at least it wasn’t about her being afraid of _relationships_.) 

“Trust me, if I’d stayed, it would’ve been a lot worse,” she assured Kora, frowning when her next sip rendered her bottle empty. Sighing, she got up to go wash it out before replacing it with another beer from the fridge. “You want another?” 

“Beer me.” One blind overhand toss later, Daisy was back on the couch with the same existential crisis. “I mean, you could always try Tinder. Or Bumble.” Blindly, Kora reached out for Daisy’s phone. “Gimme. I’ll even scroll through potential dates for you.” 

Daisy handed her phone over with minimal protest, and for a bit, the sisters’ living room was silent, save for Kora’s occasional mutterings and the sound of the television in the background. “Yeah, no, dating apps are definitely out,” she said, handing the phone back over. “Everyone I matched with either sent me a dick pic or didn’t reply.” 

“ _All_ of them?” 

Kora nodded gravely. “All of them.” 

Daisy swore under her breath. “Did you try Bumble?” 

“Tried it. Almost got into an argument with someone about whether chicken noodle soup was a soup or a stew.” 

“You’re kidding.” Daisy scrolled through several conversations before she found said argument, nose crinkling in disgust as she read back. “Okay, yeah, definitely not this one.” The phone fell to the couch with a soft _thump_ and a sigh. “I’m doomed.” This was what she got for wanting to prove her friends wrong, wasn’t it? And now she’d never live it down. “You wanna go in my place next week instead?” 

Kora snorted, draining the rest of her beer. “No. If you’re that desperate, just put an ad on Craigslist or something. I’m sure _someone’s_ bound to reply.” 

Daisy gave her a long look, the idea taking root in her brain the longer she considered it. It _would_ probably be the most efficient way to find someone; the two of them could skip all of the small talk and get right to the point. Plus, if you didn’t think about it too hard, it was basically an exchange of goods: one day of companionship in exchange for free admission to an apple orchard and all the apples you could eat. It was absolutely fair game. 

She sighed and lurched from the couch, meandering over to the dining table where her laptop sat. Its last screen was still set to a cheery GIF of a dancing apple, the tiny illustration confirming next week’s parking pass to the orchard. _Can’t believe I had to go and open my stupid mouth._ “Craigslist….Craigslist….what do I even call this?” she called to Kora, who simply shrugged again. “You’re no help.” _Date_ was typed into the search bar, and immediately, 29 matches popped up matching the word ‘date’ under the category ‘gigs’. _I mean...I guess? Worst comes to worst, I can scroll through Tinder again._

**_Seeking Fake Date to Impress Friend Group (NOT A SCAM) – Boston area_ **

_Woman (26) seeking woman or man to act as a fake date for an outing next Saturday (9/25). Must be friendly, able to crack a few jokes, and open to socially drinking. Also good at acting like a significant other. About me: I’m a software analyst with a love for dogs, superhero movies and cracking open a cold beer with my sister._

_If interested, reply or email me at_ [ **_quakeroats43@gmail.com_ ** ](mailto:quakeroats43@gmail.com)

“Make sure you add that I’m single, too,” Kora said from over her shoulder, and Daisy had to force herself not to jump a foot in the air as she glared at her sister with the most withering look she could muster. “Look, if you’re gonna get a potential partner out of this, I want a few potentials, too!” 

Daisy just rolled her eyes before adding ‘ _very straight and single’_ to the description of her sister. “Better? Or should I add that you like rom-coms and long walks on the beach?” Even if she did, it would still be true, honestly – Kora was notorious for her love of _The Notebook_ and Hampton Beach.

Kora reached over and took Daisy’s beer out of her hand, chugging it down despite the ‘hey!’ that came from her. “This is probably the worst idea you’ve ever had.” 

“You were the one who suggested it!” 

“Yeah, but you were the one that went through with it.” Kora handed Daisy another beer. “For your sake, I hope someone responds.” 

Daisy sighed and cracked open the beer, clinking it with Kora’s before taking a long swig. 

She was going to need a _lot_ more alcohol if she didn’t get a reply by next weekend. 

* * *

**_To:_ ** [ **_quakeroats43@gmail.com_ ** ](mailto:quakeroats43@gmail.com)

**_From:_ ** [ **_piedpiper25@gmail.com_ ** ](mailto:piedpiper25@gmail.com) ****

**_Subject:_ ** _Craiglist ad_

_Hi!_

_I’m responding to the ad you left on Craiglist about the date for the orchard next weekend? My name’s Piper, and if you’re still looking for someone to fake date you for the day, I’m a sucker for a good superhero movie and a corgi. Not sure if I could find someone for your sister, though – I don’t really have a lot of friends that bat for that team._

_If you want to set up a time to meet just so we can prove we’re not axe murderers, I’m free any time this weekend, and I’m from Back Bay. Hope I can help you out!_

_Piper_

“Someone replied,” Daisy told Kora over breakfast the next morning, the steam from her coffee doing little to perk her up from the numbness that had stolen through her senses upon reading the email. _“Someone replied to the email_.” She wasn’t going to be showing up to the reunion partnerless after all. Everyone could suck it. 

The phone slid across the granite countertop, Kora picking it up with a slight raise of her eyebrow. “Piper, huh?” she asked, and Daisy nodded. “Sounds like it could go either way.” Did she want it to go a certain way? Maybe, she mused as another scalding sip of coffee burned down her throat. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d dated a woman – a year or two ago, maybe, when she’d met Natasha at the bar. 

_It’d be nice if Piper was a woman._ “Yeah, well, as long as it doesn’t go in the direction of axe murderer, then I think we’ll do just fine,” she remarked dryly, opening up the email again to reply. “What’s a good time for you this weekend? Saturday? 3?” 

“Yeah, put it in,” Kora called, and stood to leave for the day. “You want the regular from May’s tonight?” 

“Tell Melinda I said hi,” Daisy answered, eyes already back on her screen. “Ask her if she’s asked Phil from the paper out yet.” Kora’s affirmation followed the sound of the door slamming shut, and it was only then that she allowed herself to focus completely on her reply: 

**_To:_ ** [ **_piedpiper25@gmail.com_ ** ](mailto:piedpiper25@gmail.com)

**_From:_ ** [ **_quakeroats43@gmail.com_ ** ](mailto:quakeroats43@gmail.com) ****

**_Subject:_ ** _re: Craiglist ad_

_Hey Piper!_

_Believe it or not, you’re the only one that’s responded to the email, so I’d love to have you as a fake date for the day! I’m Daisy, and my friends and I are having our annual reunion next weekend at the Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow – they’re always on my case about me not bringing a date to these things, so I thought this year, why not?_

_If it’s alright with you – you said you were in Back Bay, I’m over by Andrew Square – do you want to meet at the Jaho on Huntington? Is Saturday at 3 good for you? You can bring someone if you’d like – I’ll be bringing my sister Kora. (She’s the one looking for a boyfriend.) Let me know and I can definitely work around whatever you’ve got!_

_Daisy_

**_To: “Daisy Johnson”_ ** [ **_quakeroats43@gmail.com_ ** ](mailto:quakeroats43@gmail.com)

**_From: “Piper Vasquez”_ ** [ **_piedpiper25@gmail.com_ ** ](mailto:piedpiper25@gmail.com)

**_Subject:_ ** _re: Craiglist ad_

_Saturday at 3 sounds good! If it’s alright, I’ll probably bring my roommate Davis – he’ll probably be the one with a screaming baby in his arms, you won’t be able to miss him. See you then!_

_Piper_

**Kora Johnson**

**You:** Jaho on Huntington. Saturday at 3. 

**Kora:** read 9:12AM

Maybe Piper wouldn’t turn out to be an axe murderer after all. 

* * *

For a Saturday in a coffee shop, Jaho was _packed_. 

_There's no way I'm going to find Piper in any of this,_ Daisy groaned to herself when she was greeted with a blast of chatter upon opening the door. Finding anyone she knew would be hard enough, and Daisy already knew she was up for that challenge when Kora had texted her she'd be late, but finding a completely unknown face? And a table for four? 

Honestly, Daisy would've rather taken her chances facing down the MBTA cop watching for fare jumpers at Mass Ave. 

Sighing, she shifted the hefty binder she'd brought with her in her arms (Jemma would've given her _so_ much shit if she'd seen how much Daisy'd prepared for this meeting), looking to see if anyone would be willing to vacate a table anytime soon. Her gaze skipped past the sorority girls giggling over macchiatos, the obnoxiously in-love couple in the corner...

A loud cry pierced the air, all of the attention spans in the shop turning with a hushed, annoyed air to a man in the corner with a Sox cap, baby strapped to his chest while he rifled through the bag in front of him. "Sorry, everybody," he called, the note of apology heavy in his voice. "Sorry, sorry -- wife left me with the baby, it's his third time out of the house --"

That had to be Davis, then. Squeezing past a gaggle of students, Daisy eventually managed to make her way over to Davis, who was still rooting through the bag for a pacifier. The baby, however, had long since quieted, and was now scrutinizing Daisy with inquisitive green eyes. "Hey, buddy," Daisy whispered, reaching down and holding out a finger. With a grin, the baby grabbed onto her with all of his might, a soft gurgle escaping from his lips. "Aren't you a little cutie, yes you are." 

"His name's Luke," Davis explained, holding out a hand while the other pulled the long-awaited pacifier. “Are you Daisy?” 

"One and only," Daisy stuck out her hand just as smartly, shaking it before the binder nearly slid out of her one-armed grip. "Is, uh...is Piper here?" 

"Oh, yeah, Pipes is getting coffee, she'll be up in a minute --" Oh, so Piper was a woman, good to know – " _–_ you can usually tell when the insults towards how tired I look get really loud.” 

“You really don’t sleep, do you?” came an amused voice, and Daisy turned to see a woman approaching them with three coffees balanced meticulously on a tray coming towards them. Her walnut hair was cropped short, the bangs swooped lightly over to one side even as she reached to push them out of her eyes. A black leather jacket was slung over her shoulders and a blue-and-white striped shirt, and as she put the coffees down onto the table, Daisy swore she caught the flash of a tattoo curlicue on her arm. “Man, I could see your eyebags from here. Oh, damn, company.” Immediately, the woman straightened up, all of her previous joking swagger gone as she stuck out her hand. (Daisy was a little disappointed, to tell the truth.) “Daisy? Or Kora? Social media digging didn’t really give me much to go on.” 

“Daisy,” Daisy answered, feeling the binder slip dangerously once more as she reached out to shake the woman’s hand. It was a warm handshake, one that spoke of years of experience in formality. “I’m guessing you’re Piper?” 

There was a joking snort from Davis. “Either fortunately or unfortunately – I give you about ten minutes before you find out.” 

“Don’t mind him, he’s an asshat,” Piper joked, rolling her eyes fondly at him. “I make too many jokes about his wife and kid, he makes jokes about being single. Practically part of the roommate contract.” Right. The email’d mentioned they were roommates. For some reason, Daisy’d forgotten that fact. “Um. I took the liberty of grabbing you coffee, but I didn’t know how you took it, so…” She waved an embarrassed hand at the pile of sugars and creamer on the tray as they sat down. “The lines can be shit here, so I didn’t want you to have to go through it on your own.” 

“Oh.” No one’d really done that for her before. “Thanks, Piper. You, uh. You didn’t have to.” 

Piper grinned back at her, her expression somehow also setting Daisy’s at ease. “I used to fight through these lines back in undergrad, so I know how it feels.” Her eyes fell upon the large binder Daisy’d finally managed to set down, a low whistle escaping her lips. “Damn.” 

Already, Daisy could feel red creeping up in her cheeks. _I should’ve listened to Kora when she said not to prepare._ “We don’t have to use that if you don’t want to,” she said hastily, even going so far as to push it to the end of the table. “It’s a lot of information, and I don’t want to keep you for too long –”

“I’ve got all the time in the world,” Piper said at the same time that Davis said “The longer you keep her here the better.” 

“Okay, I think we’ve established Daisy’s not an axe murderer, so you can go,” Piper told him, the eye roll still fond but with an undercurrent of annoyance. “Go put your newborn to rest and take a goddamn nap. You look like you need a fifty-year one.” 

Daisy watched in amusement as Davis did exactly that. “It was nice to meet you, Daisy,” he offered sincerely before turning to his roommate: “If you don’t come back with the good cornbread from Boston Market tonight, you’re getting evicted.” 

“I’d be more scared if you hadn’t made that threat three times in the last week,” Piper called as he exited, chuckling to herself before pointedly pulling the binder back towards the middle of the table. “My attention’s all yours,” she told Daisy, sending her a wink that made Daisy’s heart trip over a crack. “I like a girl who’s prepared.” 

For the first time, Daisy began to wonder if she was in over her head. “Um, so it’s just me and my friends,” she offered hesitantly, and Piper opened the binder with interest. “There’s Mack, Elena, Bobbi, Hunter, Fitz and Jemma, and we’ve basically been friends since we lived on the same floor freshman year.” 

Piper nodded, flipping through the pages with a practiced eye. “Gotcha. Any of them dating each other?”

Daisy groaned. “ _All_ of them.” It had to have been the most karmic match in existence – how had all of them found someone through campus living except for her? What had she done in the past life to warrant this? “I’ve been seventh wheeling for the entirety of my adult life.” 

“I feel that, honestly.” Piper continued to rifle through the binder, occasionally making a noise of curiosity at some of the photos. “Tell me about your friends?”

“Okay, so Jemma – she’s the tiny one over there with curly boy – she’s a biochemist who works as a lead researcher at Harvard.” Daisy pointed at the picture, where a grinning Fitz and Jemma were holding a giant pumpkin together. “She came over here from England initially, so she hates whenever anyone asks her to do an impression of the queen. The one next to her is Fitz,” she said, pointing. “He’s from Scotland, so whatever you do, do not say he’s English to him or you _will_ catch a fiery death. He’s in mechanical engineering, too, so he’ll make sure that you die awfully.” 

Piper unconsciously patted the seat next to her, and Daisy swapped bench sides without too much thought. “The two giants next to them are Bobbi and Hunter,” she continued, pointing at the photo of Bobbi and Hunter, who were engaged in throwing eggs at each other. “Bobbi’s also a biochemist, but she likes to joke that she sold her soul out to corporate, so she works for Biogen. Hunter…” Her brow furrowed. “I don’t actually know what Hunter does. But it lets him pay for the tab most of the time, so I don’t complain.” 

“Smart,” Piper snorted, before she flipped to the last page. “And that’s Mack and Elena?” 

Daisy nodded. “Don’t let Mack fool you, he’s not actually that intimidating, I promise,” she said, leaning into Piper’s shoulder to point at the final photo. It was warm, of course, and she did her best to ignore the slight tingle that came from the contact. “But Elena will threaten to kill you and actually follow through, so...she threw a yo-yo at one of our professors freshman year. That pretty much sums her up, honestly.” 

“Cool, cool.” The other woman nodded, but Daisy could already sense a question about to roll off of her tongue. “It’s not…” Piper paused, taking a long sip of her coffee to compensate for the silence. “It’s not going to be a problem, is it?”

“I’m sorry?” 

“That you’re bringing a girl.” When Daisy’s brain still failed to put two and two together, Piper went on, her words growing increasingly choppier. “Like, is it going to be a problem that you’re bringing a girl as your date? ‘Cause I’ve sort of been there, and I’ve been that person, and to be honest, it’s not my favorite, so I’d really rather just know ahead of time --” 

“Oh, god, no, it’s not –” Daisy bit her tongue, unsure how to phrase her next words. “I have a healthy dating life,” _Oh, god, that’s already bad, let me take it back –_ “I’m bi,” she blurted out, and that seemed to fit the best. “I’m bi,” she said again, as if Piper hadn’t gotten it the first time. “They know. They just haven’t seen me with a date since sophomore year of college. So, um – it – it’s not a problem,” she hastened to finish, cheeks reddening. “Honestly, I think they’ll just be surprised to hear I showed up with someone.” 

A sly grin had crept up the side of Piper’s mouth during Daisy’s rambling speech, the end transforming it into a full smirk. “Damn,” she said, and Daisy felt her cheeks flush even more. Where was Kora when she needed her to bail her out? “Good to hear, though.” 

**Conversation: Kora Johnson**

**You:** you never showed up! 

**You:** Piper could’ve been an axe murderer for all you know

 **Kora:** nah I showed up

 **Kora:** it was just that by the time I got there you were already leaning into her so I figured you both were good

 **You:** ….

 **You:** I hate you so much right now. 

* * *

“Is that...is that…?” 

“Hunter, quick, call the press. Tell them it’s important. Daisy Johnson’s showing up with someone. Mack! Elena! Daisy’s got a date!” 

“Oh my god, fuck off, all of you,” Grudgingly, Daisy shot Bobbi the middle finger as she and Piper came trudging up to the group, canvas bags already slung over their shoulders. “Just because I’ve been single every year doesn’t mean I’m incapable of getting a date.” She gestured to Piper, who gave them a shy smile and wave uncharacteristically like her demeanor when Daisy’d met her the weekend before. “This is Piper. She’s the girl –” _Gotta get it right, Johnson –_ “This is my girlfriend, Piper.” 

Piper waved, stepping forward to shake hands. In an effort to impress, she’d veered in a direction completely different to her usual attire – she’d told Daisy as such earlier in the week, one of their ‘call me if you have questions/an emergency’ calls turning into a wayward conversation that’d lasted well into the wee hours. 

_“For the last time, Pipes, you can literally wear whatever you want,” Daisy told her, a chuckle rising within her even though she knew Piper couldn’t see. “You could show up wearing a trash bag and they’d literally just be happy to find out that I showed up with someone; I literally cannot stress this enough.”_

_“Yeah, but I want your friends to actually_ like _me, otherwise they’ll catch onto the ruse.” The shrill cries of a baby reverberated across the phone line, and Daisy heard Piper sigh audibly. “Weren’t you the one that said Fitz, Jemma, and Bobbi were scientists?”_

 _“I mean, yeah, but – look, they’re not gonna know,” Daisy retorted, but she was smiling. “Besides, even if they don’t like you, they’re not gonna tell it to your face. They’re just gonna tell it to_ me _after the day’s over. How you dress is going to have absolutely no effect on whether they give me shit for finally being cuffed.”_

“Glad to see that Daisy finally got her shit together.” Elena was the first to meet Piper, a face-splitting grin stretched across her visage as she shook hands with the other woman. “Between you and me, the men she’s dated so far are a little...stale.” 

_“Hey!”_

“It’s true and you know it, Johnson,” Elena answered, stepping back to let Mack introduce himself. “There’s been maybe _one_ good man in the whole bunch, and you broke up with him because he wanted kids.” 

Most of the introductions went smoothly, the rest of them having a quip to produce about Daisy but generally greeting Elena good-naturedly. That all changed, of course, as soon as Simmons stepped back, leaving Bobbi and Hunter to step up. Daisy watched the interaction with a heady mix of nervousness and defiance – on one hand, Bobbi and Hunter’s friendship meant the world to her, which probably meant that any opinions they held had some grain of truth to them. But on the other hand, she _wanted_ Piper to succeed, and knowing Bobbi and Hunter’s ‘interrogation’ tactics, it was possible she would run before their day even began. 

(She might’ve forgotten to mention Bobbi and Hunter’d designated themselves as the new partner interrogators in the friend group.)

“So, Piper,” Bobbi began, and beside her, Hunter tweaked the detective’s hat on his head. Daisy had to hold back a snort; she couldn’t believe he’d actually bought one for the occasion. “What are your intentions with Daisy?” 

Even as he spoke, she had to fight the urge to reach out and take up Piper’s hand in reassurance, her cheeks flaming when the thought installed itself at the forefront of her brain. _Where the hell had that come from?_ Piper was there to get her friends off of her back and that was all. Nothing else. (She would miss their phone calls, though.) 

“I mean, she’s my girlfriend,” Piper shrugged casually, fiddling with the buttons of her flannel. The words fell easily out of their mouth, and even as they did, Daisy found herself trying out the words for herself. _She’s my girlfriend. She’s my_ girlfriend. How could they live so easily on Piper’s tongue? “I do to Daisy whatever she wants me to do to her.” 

“But have you?” Hunter asked bluntly, and simultaneously, three things occurred: 

  1. Piper choked, presumably in shock.
  2. Daisy looked skyward, hoping there would be a sympathetic UFO that would kidnap her right then and there.
  3. Bobbi sent a swift elbow into Hunter’s ribs, leaving the normally jaunty Brit wheezing for air.



“I’m sorry for him,” she said profusely, shooting Hunter a glare when he tried to defend himself. “He doesn’t know what to do with his inner thoughts sometimes. Hazard of dating the man, honestly. But you know,” she continued, giving Piper a solid once-over and a winning smile, “I think you’ll be just fine. Just don’t hurt Daisy and we won’t have any problems, yeah?” 

At least _one_ of them had succeeded at being intimidating. Piper nodded, holding her hand out again to shake as if out of habit. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Perhaps it was the intimacy of their late night phone calls, perhaps it was the fact that she’d fondly thrown at Piper the current flannel she was wearing on the ride over, a combination of the two – but as the four of them rejoined the group, Piper leaning into her and intertwining their hands for emphasis, Daisy wondered if she would’ve eventually found her even without the Craiglist ad, and if she had, if somehow, somewhere down the road, they would’ve been doing the exact same thing.

* * *

For all that Daisy’d learned about Piper in the last week, out of all of her wildest dreams, she would _not_ have covered the bingo square that mentioned the other woman’s physique. Yet here she was, wildly trying not to flail while perched on Piper’s shoulders in her latest attempts to reach the apples that had just evaded her reach earlier. 

“You almost there, babe?” Piper called, and the innuendo in her voice nearly made Daisy snort. “I told you I could get you there, didn’t I?” 

“Just a little more – ooh, right there, right there,” Daisy called back, the two of them sharing a grin. “Yeah, right there, yes – yeah – yessssss!” She plucked the apple from the branch triumphantly, dropping it into the bag with a flourish only to see the entirety of their friend group staring at them with exasperated looks on their face. (Well, exasperated was exaggerating it just a _little_ – if anything, Fitz’d just rolled his eyes and told them to keep it PG-13.) “You guys good?” 

Mack just sighed and dropped another bunch of apples into his bag. Behind his back, Elena gave them the thumbs-up. “If you’re gonna stay up there, any chance you could feed me some apples?” Hunter called from a few trees down. “I think the good ones are up there.” 

“Feed him some apples?” Piper murmured, but only loud enough so that Daisy could hear. “He doesn’t...he doesn’t actually think I’m going to feed him apples, right?” 

Daisy sighed herself, knowing where this was going. “You’re just gonna wanna go with it,” she muttered back, handing Piper a few more apples to put into the bags. “Can you walk me over to Hunter?” Almost instinctively, Piper’s hands reached to grasp Daisy’s waist, their warmth seeping through Daisy’s shirt and into her skin as the two of them wobbled precariously over to Hunter, who had swapped out his previous detective’s hat for a comically large ten-gallon one. 

She cast a long glance at Hunter. “Do I really have to do this?” 

Hunter nodded. Daisy sighed again, and with a resigned swing of the arm, opened up a barely-visible hatch on the top of his hat and dropped the apples in. Piper’s jaw dropped as the apples made a clunking sound, and it was only with the utmost deadpan that Daisy shut the hatch. “Please don’t make me say it.” 

“You’ve got to say it.” 

“ _Please_ don’t make me say it.” 

“You’ve gotta say it, Dais.” 

“C’mon, Hunter, I have a girlfriend now –” 

“All the more reason to say it.” By this time, Piper was staring at their exchange with a mixture of amusement and confusion. Leave it to Hunter to humiliate her in front of her (fake) girlfriend, honestly. “C’mon, Dais. You gotta say it.” 

Daisy squeezed her eyes shut and winced. _“How d’you like them apples?”_

“Yeeehaw!” Hunter crowed, and a flash went off as their entire group cheered. It wasn’t long after that that Daisy hopped off of Piper’s shoulders, the latter pulling her close for a breathtaking moment before they were separate once more.

(It felt weird, standing at a normal height once more; the lack of Piper’s touch was the only thing slightly more concerning to her.) 

“You looked cute up there,” Piper drawled, the two of them falling into step amidst the chatter of the rest of the group. “Didn’t know you could be so uncoordinated, though; I swear you almost fell off three times within the first five minutes I had you up there.” 

“Hey, the third time was you nearly falling on your ass, don’t think I didn’t see it,” Daisy retorted, a laugh bubbling up in her chest. “A woman’s balancing act is only as good as her supports.” 

“It’s a two way street, Johnson. Don’t make me think about purposely dropping you next time.” The _next time_ sat heavily in the air, its weight awkwardly making its way between the two of them and loosening the grip on their hands. There wasn't _supposed_ to be a next time -- there was only supposed to be the end of the day, a ruse well pulled, and a lively conversation on the way home before Daisy dropped her off and they never saw each other again. And yet, the longer she thought about it, the more her brain rebelled against it. 

"Guess I'll just have to learn how to balance, then," she offered lightly, a peace offering laid delicately atop the fog of the future. Besides, it wasn't like she had to think about it now -- at the very least, it would be a thought tangent for the way home. 

“Holy shit.” Piper let out a low whistle when the gang arrived at the entrance to the maze, the sign’s cheery lettering a stark contrast to the foreboding-looking wood it was printed on. “This is the biggest corn maze I’ve ever fucking seen.” Biggest corn maze didn't even cut it -- she was pretty sure this maze had nothing on the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. 

“Rumor has it that the only bigger one ‘round here is in DC,” Mack answered, handing Piper a small pack. “Okay, so. In the pack you ve got some water, some granola bars, a camera, a non-flame emergency flare and a giant lightsaber. Don’t ask about the lightsaber, it was Bobbi’s idea,” he said before she could say anything. “You think Daisy’s a superhero movie fan, just wait until you see Bobbi and Hunter every year for Halloween.”

 _Bold of you to assume Halloween’ll be a thing_ . Piper watched Mack hand out the other packs with a sort of bitter smile, a light breeze playing with her bangs as she watched the scene before her. _Bold of you to assume I’ll even be around next week._

When she’d initially accepted the Craiglist ad, she’d thought the gig would be simple: meet the girl, pretend to play a lively girlfriend, get her free apples, and go home. But a singular questioning text had turned into long phone calls had turned into the two of them snorting over nothingness at three in the morning and leaning into each other and suddenly, before she knew it, Piper Vasquez had Daisy Johnson on speed dial without a single ounce of shame. 

She hadn't thought anything of it when she’d quipped that Daisy shouldn’t tempt her into dropping her the next time, not even up until the moment the last words had rolled off of her tongue. It’d only been after she'd said it had she realized that what she'd said, what she’d _implied_ , popped the illusion that was their friendship with the concept of an actual relationship. Because truthfully, Daisy Johnson was everything a girl could’ve dreamed of in a relationship. The girl had jokes, passion, and gorgeous eyes to boot. (Okay, maybe not everything. But she was pretty close to Piper’s dream girl.) And she just had to go and screw all of that possibility up with a poorly-timed quip. And now they were going to get lost in a corn maze together. _Fucking fantastic._

“Alright, everyone, you know the rules,” Hunter called from the front of the pack. He'd managed to change from his cowboy hat into a standard baseball cap (he, Mack, and Bobbi had spent an eventful forty-five minutes trying to inconspicuously lug the damn thing to his car, apparently), the bill of the cap flipping between forwards and backwards as he and Bobbi engaged in a silent war of the bills. “First couple out gets the first shots at the bar tonight, last couple out has to pay for dinner.”

“See you on the other side of the war,” Elena joked, and just like that, everyone was off, cautious souls venturing into an otherworldly mess of corn, leaves, and rapidly-approaching twilight. Their sudden disappearance left Piper and Daisy standing at the entrance still, curious gazes trailing over every spare leaf and direction except in that of each other. 

They had to address it sometime, didn't they? “We can go left?” Piper asked, and Daisy nodded silently. 

The maze, oddly enough, was vacant of any other patrons near them, and it allowed for some of the earlier tension to dissolve via process of time. “You think everyone bought the act?” Daisy asked, and the idea that they hadn’t was simply so preposterous that it made Piper stop. “I'm serious,” she repeated, and the barest hint of a snicker escaped Piper's mouth. “I really don't need Fitz and Jemma on my case again next year; you should’ve seen them,” The snorts continued; Piper was almost gasping for breath at this point. “Fitz told me to say I was afraid of commitment and go!” 

“I mean, if anything, I think they think we’re together a little _too_ well,” Piper pointed out, and at Daisy's questioning look, she forced herself to breathe enough to explain. “On our way to the maze, Fitz and Jemma were trading theories on how and when we would get engaged. Fitz thinks it’ll be me that pops the question, by the way,” she said when Daisy's mouth fell open. “Just so you know. And I'm pretty sure Bobbi and Hunter have started conspiring with Mack and Elena to plan the wedding.” Maybe she could get in on that, too, provided she wasn't completely excommunicated once everyone found out it was a ruse. 

“Okay, yeah,” Daisy said, sounding somewhat strangled, and the pure panic in her voice made Piper think that perhaps there was some truth to Fitz’s initial comment. “Maybe they're convinced. But, um.” She hummed. “We could do something that really drives the point in?” 

At that, Piper s heart practically leapt. _Down, girl, down. You don't always get to kiss every pretty girl you see. Or that you happen to be on a date with. A fake date. Fuck._ “Like what? Daisy shrugged, a fluid gesture that had Piper’s eyes catching on the lines of her shoulders as she moved.

“We could kiss,” she suggested in a tone that was way too casual for the weight of the conversation they were having. Had she thought about it before? Piper couldn't tell. “Get caught making out in the next few corners, or something.” Had she thought about what kissing Daisy would be like? Sure. Had she ever thought it would happen? Absolutely not. 

“Three corners, then,” Piper answered, and hoped to whatever higher being there might be that her voice wasn’t cracking. “Three corners, and then --” She gestured between them confusedly, hoping Daisy would get the point. “I’ll kiss you? You kiss me? Which one of us --” 

_CRUNCH. “Fitz, I think the path’s this way!”_

“Shit.” It was if an orchestra had just started playing double-time in the background, such was the look of panic in Daisy's eyes. (Honestly, Piper herself would be lying if her heart hadn't started beating in time with it.) “Fitz and Jemma. Shit, shit, shit, shit --” 

“Do you trust me?” 

_“Jemma, we went there last time, I'm telling you it's not the way to the exit --”_ Daisy nodded, eyes already darting left and right. _“Jemma!”_

In what seemed like lightning speed, Piper stepped close, palms gently settling into the place they'd been when Daisy had been on her shoulders earlier. “I'm going to kiss you now, okay?” she breathed, noses almost touching, and Daisy barely nodded before Piper’s lips were on hers, a soft but firm pressure that was enough to make Daisy mirror Piper's grip.

She wasn't sure when the kiss had morphed from a need for cover into something more real, but before she knew it, Piper was standing on her tiptoes to match Daisy’s height, and of all the things she'd imagined Daisy would taste like -- apple cider, maybe, or peppermint from Daisy’s earlier hot chocolate -- it was nothing to the distinct feeling of home that immediately slotted into her being, comfort and cozy sweaters and the utterly complete feeling of being safe in the most vulnerable of fronts. 

“Wow,” Daisy breathed when they finally broke apart, Fitz and Jemma s voices having come and faded a long time ago. “That...that, um.”

“Yeah,” Piper agreed, hoping her voice covered the shakiness that was rattling around in her chest. _Wow. Fucking wow indeed._ “So, uh, I know that this was supposed to be a fake date and all, but do you think you’d be down to get actual dinner sometime?” 

Daisy gave her a smirk. “Let’s get out of here first.”

* * *

**Bobbi Morse**

 **Bobbi:** I heard you scarred Fitz and Jemma in the maze earlier

 **You:** is that what they said? is that what they said --??

 **You:** for the record, piper and I weren’t even making out that heavily -- 

**Bobbi:** uh, according to fitz, it was pretty heavily

 **Bobbi:** and he and jemma aren’t sure if they can ever recover

 **You:** well next time fitz questions my ability to commit, i’ll just make out with piper in front of him

 **Bobbi:** yeah, about that

 **You:**??

 **Bobbi:** I like Piper. She’s cool. But you know, you can just tell us you’re single next time, you don’t have to find someone to fake date 

**You:** ……

 **You:** how….

 **Bobbi:** Fitz and Jemma weren’t the only ones near you guys. So just give it some thought, yeah?

“Joke’s on Bobbi,” Piper snorted when she read the message, Daisy reaching to gently bop her on the head before turning to catch a light kiss from the other woman. “See you next week?” 

“I’ll send you an email with the details,” Daisy joked, and Piper rolled her eyes one last time before sliding out of the car, waving jauntily even as she ascended the stairs to her apartment complex. 

**You:** don’t worry, I don’t think i’ll be fake dating piper anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Any feedback is appreciated :)


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